Fri-da-licious-Friday

[A Basket of Cat}

A long day, and I should be heading to bed, as I have to be up early. I am chairing the meeting at 10 Am, so I have to be there by 9 to set up, so I have to get up by 7:30 so that I can make breakfast and get dressed and drive the half hour to get there. Grandson is here spending the night...he fell asleep watching a movie at about 7:45. That means he'll be up at zero dark thirty. And he MUST have scrambled eggs and toast for his breakfast! lol He loves the idea of eating eggs that he carried in from the henhouse.

We had a lovely, though short day. When I picked him up, he said that he was hungry. I got him right off the school bus. He said that his dad is drinking again, and that last night he drank so much he passed out in the floor. When the youngster woke up this morning, he was still there. He said that after his dad passed out last night, he dumped all his beer down the sink and threw away all the cans. I guess he had a hard time getting him to wake up this morning, and he needed to eat a good breakfast because they had to take the ISAT's today. He was afraid he was going to miss school.

I watch this sweet boy and think-dammit! he shouldn't be having to play the punishing parent with this guy. He said his dad gets mad all the time and yells at him when he drinks. And he said he told him that if he didn't quit the drinking, he wasn't going to stay with him anymore. I hate what alcoholism does to our children.

It's been a gorgeous day with temperatures in the low 80's...almost breaking a record set in 1956. Miss Caylee found the pond and has been throwing herself in it all day. I watched her come tearing through the back yard and fling herself into the water with reckless abandon. With a look of total and complete ecstacy on her little dog face. lol We can learn so much from our animal companions.

I have had so many opportunities today to be so filled with gratitude--I love it when I don't have to work too hard to find the beauty in my world. There have been so many things, from a beautiful sunrise, to a gaggle of Canadian geese out on the pond, to the cacophony of frogs down by the springs. From a kind word by a stranger, to the sight of a freaky young man helping his grandmother get out of the car, to the look on my husband's face when we tricked him about something tonight. From the sounds emanating from the new kitty box as the week old babies squirm and vie for the best feeding position, to watching my little dog run at breakneck speed around the house, after I thought she might never walk again. From watching my sick kitty recuperate with the magic of antibiotics, to reading my favorite bloggers and hearing what's going on in their worlds.

Especially blessed by the mundane routines of my life. Especially blessed by friendships near and far. Especially blessed to be here, now.

Namaste.